Conozca a Pancho Pachuco, este hijo de puta con estilo más caliente corre el mejor clandestino en la ciudad, y él lo sabe también!
This character is based off the deadly sin Pride. The challenge was to create a character with this attribute, and making him part of a sub-culture of a previous decade. I thought the zoot suit culture in the 1930-40's would be perfect. The bright colored suits and excessive use of fabric were flaunted with pride during this time. The style was popular amongst Chicano, African American and Italian American youth. The Chicanos sporting these suits were called Pachucos, and so I decided to make a Pachuco gangster and placed him in the prohibition era. Below are early character studies and a scene illustration showcasing this prideful pachuco in his natural habitat, an underground speakeasy. I had alot of fun with this project. I think there is alot to develop and could see myself making a whole graphic novel on this character.

Here is the final sketch with color sample. The color changed in the final to adhere to the proper lighting. Although I had to speed through the process, I was happy that I achieved the right mood for such a place.

This was a fun project. The assignment was to make a portrait based off a Craigslist personals ad. There are many interesting people on Craigslist, but this one stuck out to me:
"Merlin seeks Nimue - 37. Yes I am a Wizard...............in the most modern sense, of course. I teach meditation; stress reduction techniques and offer other metaphysical services. Am seeking a spiritual soulmate to share all the finer things in Life. If you like what you see/feel please reply with a pic(s) and a brief note. If there's a spark I'd like to hear your voice. Am not an email/instant chat or text fan.................let's communicate and see if we click & want to meet in the not-too-distant future. Please be a non smoker. Light alcohol ok................am not a drinker myself..................am very sensitive to the ever shifting energies of this dream world. please be between ?? and 35. thanks.............."

Thanks for the inspiration Merlin! Here is the initial sketch.

I wanted to stick to a limited, but very high chroma color palate. I imagined Merlin would have all natural dyes and a room filled with prayer flags, new age crystals, incense and some warm chai.

Here is the line work done in graphite, and a rough color study over it. I wanted to stick very close to the color plan through to the finished piece.This process was fairly typical for me, and I have become bored. I decided to try something new.

I wanted to keep the vibrancy of digital color, but wanted to lay it down a different way. I decided I would paint the colored layers with acrylic paint, sticking very close to the original color plan. Here is the plain acrylic layer painted over the original line work.

As you can see the painting in itself isn't very...captivating. I was happy that I was able to replicate for the most part the original color plan. So after scanning this in, I merged this layer with line work layer, similar to a print making technique. After cleaning up edges and tweaking the colors I came to a finish. I really enjoyed the process, as I was able to spend more time working traditionally and less time in front of a computer. Hopefully in the future I can develop and further refine this process.

Fox and Falcon Fight Ferociously with Fangs and Feathers Falling Forever in a Forest of Flame. Book spread illustration based on the letter "F". This picture got selected in 3x3 Magazine Student Show! Can't wait to see what this looks like in print.